The expansion of Forrest’s World Series competition planned for next year is due to be ticked off by the World Rugby Executive Committee next month.

It’s expected the game will expand to eight teams competing for a $1 million prize after a series of exhibition matches this year with Forrest’s beloved Perth-based Western Force.

The plan has always been to start with a team in Sydney’s west and several big-money types are waiting in the wings for sign-off from Rugby Australia and NSW Rugby.

Despite backing next year’s expansion, support for the new team has (still) not been forthcoming.

Advertisement

With kick-off scheduled for late February, time is running out to make arrangements.

And that’s exactly what Rugby Australia is concerned about.

Andrew Forrest is hoping to start a team in Sydney's west when the World Series Rugby competition launches next year.
Andrew Forrest is hoping to start a team in Sydney's west when the World Series Rugby competition launches next year.CREDIT:RICHARD WAINWRIGHT

Maybe Forrest’s tussle with fellow mining magnate Gina Rinehart over Atlas Iron, only resolved this week, has taken the eye of the ball.

But short quick work, the World Series could be without a presence where the AFL already has the wildly popular Tony Shepherd-led Giants and where the NRL is more than well represented.

And how do we know this?
The Western Force press news of 29 September 2018 gives just a hint......

Rugby Australia Chief Executive, Raelene Castle said: “We have worked very closely with Andrew and his team as he has developed plans for an Asia Pacific focused competition. There is a lot of detail to work through and we are looking forward to continuing this positive dialogue over the coming months.”

Watch how quick the good word is spread when the tick is placed in the box.

Not sure there was much of a relationship to unravel anyway.

If it was really in jeopardy Georgina, Payto & Pando would be all over it, and they are not....speaks volumes.

Lets not panic. I imagine Twiggy cannot formally launch WSR to the public until after the meeting in London in November. But I imagine everything is going ahead being organised behind the curtains. I cannot find a date for that meeting. Last year the meeting was on the 23 rd of nove, so could have to wait another 6 weeks before we see the formal announcements.

World Series Rugby has been given the tick of approval by the sport’s governing body and the Western Force will battle seven teams for a $1 million purse in the revolutionary tournament next year.

The competition, bankrolled by Perth mining magnate Andrew Forrest, will create the biggest shake-up in rugby since the sport turned professional 23 years ago.

It will kick-off in March and is expected to feature two sides from Japan, and one each from New Zealand - possibly an “all stars” team drawn from the Mitre 10 Cup - Fiji, Hong Kong, Singapore and Western Sydney.

At least two more teams may be added within five years and negotiations have begun with broadcasters throughout the regions where games will be played.

“We are in the final stretch and I remain confident rugby fans and players in our part of the world will have an innovative new competition to get behind in 2019,” Forrest said.

Forrest’s plans were considered by World Rugby’s executive committee on Wednesday who recommended approval to the World Rugby Council, subject to regulatory and governance criteria.

“This concept is about developing and growing the great game of rugby union in an untapped region, with the support of local communities,” Forrest said.

“We have worked closely with World Rugby, Rugby Australia, Hong Kong Rugby Union and New Zealand Rugby for several months to get this over the line.

“The support provided by the World Rugby executive committee is an important milestone and I would particularly like to thank World Rugby chief executive Brett Gosper, Rugby Australia CEO Raelene Castle and the many other rugby leaders around the world that have had the vision and foresight to champion this competition.

“The Asia Pacific will be a major player in rugby’s future. I am looking forward to being able to help develop the game in the region.”

Earlier this week Gosper said: “Generally World Rugby’s position is, if someone wants to put money in the sport .... we would encourage that.

“If someone comes along with a cheque book and wants to develop the game in areas, in particular where we need that development, and I’m thinking across parts of Asia which Mr Forrest has in mind, then that’s of interest to us.”

RA chief executive Raelene Castle said: “We have worked very closely with Andrew and his team as he has developed plans for an Asia Pacific focussed competition. There is a lot of detail to work through and we are looking forward to continuing this positive dialogue over the coming months.”

One of the sides expected to join the new competition is the Robbie Deans-coached Panasonic Wild Knights, who played the Force in one of seven invitation matches earlier this year.

The Western Sydney-based team would have a strong Samoa and Tonga influence but would also tap into the area's talent-laden resources.

Shute Shield premiership-winning Warringah Rats coach Darren Coleman has been sounded out as coach of the new side.

Coleman, currently coaching NSW Country Eagles in the National Rugby Championship, led the Rats to the 2017 premiership and this year’s grand final.

Clubs are expected to be owned by companies, individuals, national unions or current management and will not be tied to a salary cap for their 30-man squads.

WSR is also expected to contract eight marquee players who will be directed to clubs to produce a level playing field.

The competition will be played between March and June next year over a 14-week home-and-away season. The top four sides will go into a three-week sudden-death finals series.

WSR has morphed from Forest’s original plan for a six-team Indo Pacific Rugby Championship. It will be run by an independent board with Forrest as chairman and there will be a commission of clubs.

Mining magnate Andrew 'Twiggy' Forrest's World Series Rugby vision has suffered a major setback after Australia and New Zealand said they would block the rebel league in western Sydney and across the Tasman until after 2020.

With the format of Super Rugby and the international Test schedule both up in the air, it is understood Rugby Australia (RA) and New Zealand Rugby (NZR) have told Forrest they will not support his bid to put teams in western Sydney and New Zealand until after both are resolved.

With the new Super Rugby agreement to start in 2021 and the global calendar on a similar time frame, the news means that apart from the Western Force, World Series Rugby will not have any Australian or New Zealand teams until then at the very earliest.

Snagged: Andrew Forrest's hope for a team in Sydney's west has hit a huge stumbling block.
Snagged: Andrew Forrest's hope for a team in Sydney's west has hit a huge stumbling block.CREDIT:RICHARD WAINWRIGHT

Under a plan circulated amongst the unions, Forrest's vision was for an eight-team competition to start in February next year with a team in western Sydney, at least one in New Zealand and Japan, as well as the Western Force.

NSW Rugby Union boss Andrew Hore said on Thursday that NSW supported the positions of RA and NZR, saying it was a case of not "never", just "not now", as the NSWRU itself fights to breathe life into the huge but underutilised region.

Advertisement

RELATED ARTICLE
Cheika bristles at talk of independent selector and coaching revamp
WALLABIES
Cheika bristles at talk of independent selector and coaching revamp
Add to shortlist
"There won't be a World Series team there next year. As we know there's a lot of work to be done in and around western Sydney and nobody's saying no to that but making sure it's done in an effective way," he said.

"Our whole focus at the moment has been on unifying the game so anything we do has to be tied to our new governance model and have the full support of the rugby community, otherwise you just end up with another fraction.

"That's still open for discussion but I think everyone's in agreement it could all be too quick. You've got 2020 on the horizon and the renegotiation of where rugby will be after that."

It is a major setback for Forrest and the World Series team, but is unlikely to daunt the determined magnate. Hore hinted that Forrest had already heard the news from RA boss Raelene Castle, who had a working dinner with the billionaire and her NZR counterpart, Steve Tew, last month.

Advertisement

"I think Raelene's alluded to that and it seems that both her and Steve Tew have had some good meetings, which is good, and we had one meeting with his representative," Hore said.

"I think everyone's under agreement that you can't put a professional team and build it on sand, it just doesn't work. So all of the other variables that make a team like that sustainable and potentially, whether it will go ahead at all, needs further discussion.

'Not now': NSW Rugby says the state has groundwork to do before western Sydney is ready for a professional team.
'Not now': NSW Rugby says the state has groundwork to do before western Sydney is ready for a professional team.CREDIT:LOUIE DOUVIS

"To try to put a professional team in by next March - nobody's got the resource probably outside Twiggy's group at this stage. Because at the end of the day we've got to look after 100,000 rugby players in our own state. With everything else going on it's a lot of work."